Cold weather caused pipes to burst in ceiling of the PHS football field house.

By Eileen SteinhauerProgress contributor Winter weather not only slowed the return of students to school last week, but it also caused major damage to the Pickens High School Football Field House. According to Rick Little, Pickens County Director of Operations, due to the prolonged cold temperatures, water pipes in the ceiling of the Field House burst in seven different areas.

“We discovered the damage on Wednesday morning when we returned to school,” said Varsity Football Coach Chris Parker whose office is located in the Field House. “Water was pouring from several parts of the ceiling and the water was approximately two to three inches deep throughout most of the building.” Maintenance crews arrived immediately to turn off the water and help start removing water from the building. “Because of the location of the leaks in the ceiling, the water had access to everything. Equipment, electronics, furniture and even hard copy paper files were soaked,” said Parker. According to PHS Vice Principal Harold Culbreth, insurance for the building is held through the Georgia School Board Association (GSBA) and a restoration group was immediately called. “The GSBA restoration group got to work right away removing tiles and insulation. They have had dryers in the building drying out the rest of the floor and furniture,” said Culbreth. “The restoration group is in the process of assessing both the structural and property damage.” The Field House houses the football coaches’ offices, a training room, football equipment, team changing room and main weight room. All areas of the building were affected by the water. The only class held in the property is weight training. The weight room had the least amount of damage and classes should be able to resume in that space some time this week. The remainder of the building will be under construction for the next three to four weeks. Since insurance was held on the building, the Pickens County School System will only be responsible for the deductible related to the damage.